1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system, and more particularly, to a method for automatically downloading and installing a device driver through the Internet when setting up a peripheral device with a host, a method for maintaining and repairing a device driver when errors occur in the peripheral device, and a system thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the number of peripheral devices, such as a keyboard, a disk drive, a printer, and a video camera, has increased remarkably. In order to add a new device to a computer system, a device driver has to exist in the memory of the computer. Accordingly, the device driver allows the device to operate with the computer and an operation system thereof.
Referring to FIG. 1, a peripheral device 110, such as a printer, is connected to a host 120, such as a personal computer (PC). Here, the software of a device driver for controlling the peripheral device 110 is directly installed in the host 120 by using a recording medium 130, such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for installing a device driver in the system of FIG. 1.
First, a peripheral device 110 is connected to a host 120 in a plug-in-plug method in step 210. The host 120 transfers an acknowledgement of the connection to the peripheral device 110 in step 220, and the peripheral device 110 transfers device information to the host 120 in step 230. Thereafter, the host 120 detects a device driver according to the receipt of the device information from the peripheral device 110 in step 240 to check the existence of the device driver in step 250. When the host 120 finds the device driver, the host 120 installs the driver and initializes the device in step 260. If the host 120 cannot find the device driver, the host 120 displays a driver insertion message on a monitor. Accordingly, a user installs a device driver by inserting a CD-ROM or a floppy disk into the host 120 in order to set up a peripheral device with the host.
However, a conventional method for installing a device driver by using a recording medium requires a user to insert a CD-ROM or a floppy disk and there exists the possibility for the user to lose the CD-ROM or the floppy disk. In addition, if the user loses the disk or the diskette of the corresponding device driver, the user has to search the Internet and download the device driver. In this case, if the user cannot find the device driver through the Internet, the user cannot use the device.
In addition, if a peripheral device connected to a computer system is broken or an error occurs in the peripheral device, a user has to analyze the cause of the breakage or error to fix the peripheral device or to request a repair service. In particular, if a drum of a printer is broken or the lifespan of the drum is over, a novice cannot detect the cause of the error, and may unnecessarily request repair service. In this case, a repair service engineer has to analyze the cause of the error and bring a supply, e.g., a drum, resulting in a time consuming task.